The Pinkertons: The 5 Best Moments So Far

The Pinkertons have certainly had their hands full since hitting our screens, so here are our favourite bits from the first half.

MEETING ALLAN PINKERTON

How does Allan Pinkerton like to make an entrance? Angrily. The very first time we saw him in the series, he walked in on his son Will playing a card game in a saloon. "Outside," Allan growled. Will didn't respond quickly enough, so Allan gave him a very loud smack in the face and elaborated on his request: "Now."

Fortunately, it turned out Allan was just pretending to be a furious stranger because Will was undercover. Hence the whole humiliating-his-son-in-a-room-full-of-gawping-people thing. He promptly made up for it by gifting poor young Will with a Scottish shortbread. Which had definitely seen better days. "It's a wee bit crumbled," Allan admitted. "I sat on it in the train." Sweet.

THE BEAUTIFUL BRAWL

One evening in the same saloon, Will was dancing with a lovely lady when another gentleman took exception to his footwork (mainly because Will kept bumping into him). This being the Wild West, a simple "Do you mind watching where you're dancing?" wouldn't cut it, so the chap punched Will square in the face. Will paused, rubbed his face, and punched him right back.

Then, suddenly, everything went into slow motion as the men tumbled across the floor in a flurry of fists and feet, while playing cards spiraled through the air and the crowd went scrambling for all the money flying everywhere. This was a brawl as ballet, and was really rather beautiful. At least until Allan Pinkerton broke it up by emerging from a bedroom and firing a gun into the air. "Quiet!" he bellowed. And then, more quietly, "A... man's... gotta get... some sleep." At which point Will and his adversary picked themselves up, smiled and chinked glasses. Business as usual.

THE EPIC DUEL

The Pinkertons likes to surprise us with sudden, cinematic set-pieces. Like the barroom brawl we just mentioned. There was also the time we saw a confrontation that was like something from a Tarantino-like revenge epic. In one corner we had Kenji, a young Japanese detective on the trail of the man who had conspired in his father's murder. In the other, that very man - a suave, corrupt diplomat.

The setting was a vast, sun-scorched plain, straight out of a Spaghetti Western. The camera zoomed in on the bad guy as he said "I thought your task was to return me to Japan." Cut to Kenji: "My desire is to avenge your treachery, and my father's death." Cut to bad guy: "By putting desire before duty, you commit a greater treachery." Clearly the greatest bit of dialogue in The Pinkertons so far, and it only got better when they got stuck into an actual, proper swordfight. Too bad Will and Kate had to ride in and put a stop to their shenanigans.

ALLAN GETS ANGRY (AGAIN)

Now, we're used to Allan Pinkerton losing his patience. After all, it seems to happen whenever he's in the same room as his son Will. But there was one scene when Allan went beyond mere irritation, right through rage and straight into all-out disgust. And that was when he realized that one of his most trusted Pinkerton agents had double-crossed the agency to become a paid killer for the very people they were investigating.

To make matters worse, the agent had murdered another Pinkerton on the orders of his secret employer. Now, Allan is one of the good guys, and not given to brutal retribution when he can help it. But this time, he couldn't help it. Confronting the traitor, Allan shot dead him just as he would a rabid dog. A gut-punch of an an episode ending, all told.

WILL THE GENT

Will Pinkerton has two tried and tested methods for getting the attention of ladies: he either goes full rogue, all playful jibes and cocky smiles, or he does the opposite and goes for the "aw shucks" boy-next-door routine, with big innocent eyes and shameless flattery. But when he met a beautiful preacher's daughter who was crucial to a case, he did both. And neither. Truth was, he was well and truly out of his comfort zone, and it was a delight to see.

Devoutly religious, she was clearly supposed to be out of bounds for Will. Like a schoolboy with a crush, he didn't know quite how to handle the situation - particularly as they were on the road together and expected to share a tent on a freezing night. It could have been incredibly awkward, especially when he suggested she hold onto him for warmth. But his sheer gallantry won the day, and even she felt comfortable enough to cuddle up to this big strapping stranger. What a man.

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